The number of new drugs containing new active substances approved in the EU rose significantly in 2020, underpinned by a strong showing for orphan-designated products and a string of novel medicines for cancer and infectious diseases. Notable among the new clutch of approvals was the first ever COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer/BioNTech's Comirnaty.

With the first approval in the bag for its lead product, Idefirix, from the European Commission, Sweden’s Hansa Biopharma is planning to launch the product in Europe using its own medical and commercial organization in core markets.

Bristol makes its own deal with Celgene ally Dragonfly, while Gilead ends virology partnerships with Durect and Precision BioSciences.

Poseida, Nkarta and Inventiva raised $224m, $252m and $107.7m, respectively. Also, Forbion raised €185m ($208m) of a new €250m fund and Blackstone closed the last $1.2bn of its $4.6bn fund for public and private company deals, and Ascendis led recent follow-ons with a $569.2m offering.